The core practical component of this research is an interactive installation designed as an embodied identity-triggering system. The installation integrates NFC technology, Arduino control, 3D-printed manicured hands, and Unreal Engine virtual environments.
Each 3D-printed hand contains an embedded NFC chip corresponding to a specific virtual identity environment. When a participant selects and places a hand onto the NFC sensor, the Arduino microcontroller reads the chip and triggers a scene transition within Unreal Engine. This creates a direct relationship between physical action and digital identity activation.
Through this interaction, manicure functions as a technical interface rather than a purely aesthetic object. Identity is not represented visually but activated through embodied and material interaction. The participant becomes an active agent in switching between identity environments, experiencing identity as contingent, externalised, and technologically mediated.